Filed Date: Sept. 30, 2016
Closed Date: Oct. 13, 2016
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This case is about absentee voting accommodations for voters with visual impairments.
On September 30, 2016, two blind voters filed a federal complaint in the Eastern District of Missouri. The plaintiffs sued the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners (“Election Board”) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Represented by the Saint Louis University Legal Clinic and the Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services, the plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order, permanent injunctive relief, and a declaration that the ADA and Section 504 require election authorities to make accessible voting, including touch-screen voting machines, available at all elections and during absentee voting for all elections.
For the 2016 election, the plaintiffs requested an accommodation from Election Board to allow them to use touch-screen voting machines with audio versions of the ballots during the absentee period, as they were unable to vote using paper ballots. The Election Board previously allowed persons with disabilities to vote during the absentee period using touch-screen machines. But in 2016, the Election Board changed its policy in light of a recent state-court appellate decision holding that absentee ballots must be cast in person or via mail to be placed inside a pre-printed ballot envelope.
With their complaint, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and a permanent injunctive relief. They claimed that the Election Board was inflicting irreparable harm on the plaintiffs and other voters with disabilities who are similarly situated, the plaintiffs had no adequate remedy at law, and that the harm in the case was immediate and ongoing, because absentee voting in the city of St. Louis was already underway. They also claimed that the Election Board would suffer no harm if a preliminary injunction was granted, because the Election Board already possessed and had previously used the touch-screen machines during absentee voting.
The Election Board answered the complaint on the same day it was filed, September 30, 2016. In its Answer, the Election Board stated that it was willing and able to provide touch-screen voting machines in absentee voting, as it has done for years, but that it was constrained by the recent state-court decision.
Judge Audrey G. Fleissig heard the case on the day that it was filed and answered. At the hearing, Judge Fleissig issued a temporary restraining order and scheduled another hearing on October 13, 2024. She ordered the board to “make touch-screen voting machines with audio and all other accessible voting technology available for persons with disabilities during the absentee-voting period for the November 8, 2016 election.”
The parties stipulated dismissal of the action on October 13, 2016.
Summary Authors
(6/11/2024)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4515060/parties/gray-v-st-louis-city-board-of-election-commissioners/
Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein (Missouri)
Ammann, John J. (Missouri)
Eckles, Susan K. (Missouri)
Heitholt, Vincent Kellen (Missouri)
Jacober, Matthew A. (Missouri)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4515060/gray-v-st-louis-city-board-of-election-commissioners/
Last updated Aug. 20, 2025, 9:05 p.m.
State / Territory: Missouri
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) project
Key Dates
Filing Date: Sept. 30, 2016
Closing Date: Oct. 13, 2016
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Voters with visual impairment
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners (St. Louis, St. Louis), City
Defendant Type(s):
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111 et seq.
Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act), 29 U.S.C. § 701
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Preliminary injunction / Temp. restraining order
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Content of Injunction:
Issues
Disability and Disability Rights:
Discrimination Area:
Discrimination Basis:
Disability (inc. reasonable accommodations)
Voting: